We have finally reached the final series of the Nationals' 32-game stretch against nothing but NL East and AL East opponents. They've already guaranteed they'll wind up with a winning record during this span, having gone 17-12 to this point, but they'd certainly like to add another couple (or three) victories to the pile this weekend against the Orioles.

The Nats also are motivated to take this series after losing two of three to Baltimore last month in D.C. Jordan Zimmermann did not pitch in that series, so he'll be making his first start of the season against the Orioles tonight (he has faced them three previous times in his career, going 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA).

Jason Hammel (who did face the Nats last month and came away with a win) is on the mound for Baltimore, so Davey Johnson is using his standard lineup against right-handers … with one twist. Since they're in an American League, Michael Morse will serve as designated hitter for the seventh straight time). Roger Bernadina takes his spot in right field.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to cover tonight's game at Camden Yards. Rich Dubroff will have the full report on CSNwashington.com, and I'll be sure to post links here later. Enjoy the game…

Don't worry – it's going to be covered so much it will be smothered. Joint coverage — blech. Hate it so much. Interesting scenario – what if we end up playing the Orioles in the world series – think we will have joint coverage?

I am pretty sure Fox has the World Series so Joe Buck and TIm McCarver will cover it.Next time you can't go mark let me go, and I will update your blog or ask ROb Dubroff update it like you do.Can we get the hitting going finally. Down to .240. 13th in the leage 12th in runs. Give the pitchers a break guys.GYFNG

Swami — no matter whogetsto the WS, fortunately (from the no-MASN perspective) the TV coverage is in the hands of one of the networks (I think Fox has the rights now?).But Os won't get there with their current pitching rotation. And will their BP hold up?

waddu eye — agreed. If you have the MLB App on your smartphone or computer, you can sync Charlie and Dave with the muted and DVR'd MASN. The audio is about 45 seconds behind the video, rather than ahead of it, as it is on the radio.

Agreed on the joint coverage ick. Tomorrow it's on Fox, so we'll only have two days of joints…ummm…moving right along now…Les, no decision on the MASN contract situation yet. They've put it off until at least July 1.

HI Rabbitt!!!!DJinFL/Mick from previous post.. Not sure about Upton either, but I will take DJ's word for it, he gets to see it up close more than any of us.Ick on the joint coverage as well.Morse is probably DYING for Monday and no more interleague.. I hate the DH too!!Mark enjoy the night off!!GYFNG!!!!.. stomp on those O's!!!!!!!!

Finally, finally, I still don't get how buying tickets on the secondary market puts money in Angelos' pockets. Ok, there's that 10% commission on StubHub that MLB takes, and maybe he gets a slice of that, but still, the tickets have already been purchased.True, the tickets have already been purchased. And the person who purchased those tickets has put money into Angelos's pockets. But then someone comes along and buys those tickets on the secondary market. They give money to the original purchaser that replaces the money the original purchaser gave to Angelos. So that secondary buyer may not be handing their money directly to Angelos, but they might as well be. A secondary purchaser who haughtily claims "I'm not giving my money to Angelos" is just like Sgt. Schultz saying "I know nothing!" while stuff is going on right under his nose.

I am so over inter-league play. And guys, come on, you owe Jordan big time. Hit the ball!!!! ( and not right at the shortstop, please) Last start Jordan got a hit, made defensive plays, pitched his heart out. As he usually does. Last night the team looked more animated than they have looked recently. I even saw a fist pump from ALR. Hope they are fired up!!! Any forecast for storms up that way? Hoping the only firewords in the sky are homeruns flying out of OPACY and hit by our guys. Zim is soooo due.

Welcome back Feel! And the primary purchaser also has more money to buy additional tickets sometime in the future. And there are the concessions because few people can resist a dog or a brew while at the game, and Angelos gets that profit. Ok, I get that. But under your theory, we're all Sgt. Schultzes, because there are fans at the game who bought tickets, even though we're just watching on TV. Would I be putting money in Angelos's pocket if your brother Phil invited me to go along and gave me one of his season tickets? (Leaving aside the beer purchase of course.) If I refuse to go, Phil will just take someone else, maybe you. (Ok, Phil probably doesn't have season tix to the O's anymore, but you catch my drift, right?) Phil bought the ticket, maybe six months ago. Angelos has that money and gets no more from me, whether Phil sells it to me, gives it to me, or goes to the game alone and looks forlornly at the empty seat.

but wait! there's more!if you're a mac geek like me yo can tune in the game on the app on your iphone/ipod touch, and play it through your stereo using airport. or just plug it in to an extra input on your amp. amp up that charlie and dave. btw – my first season nat's hat has now been proudly worn to prague, rome and florence. great vacation, but the time difference meant i could only listen to day games. but kept up with you all.beat them o's hon!gyfng

NatsLady — Regarding your thought about wondering about condition, in the previous thread: The first time I went to spring training and saw pitchers running in the outfield — an activity I'd long heard about — I almost didn't recognize it as running. LOL They weren't running hard and they didn't do many reps. LOL But seriously I know that they do lots of condition, but running in the outfield didn't look like a big part of it.

I actually think it's going to be better when it's sprinkled through the season. If your hitting is cold then you aren't facing an entire AL gauntlet all at one time. You won't be stuck with someone dh'ing a lot all in a row, either. I don't like it all bunched up.

And my last word on Peralta – I think he appealed it just so that he could pitch against us for two days. It was just a delay until he left here. You just know there was a huge amount for him to get 8 games and drop the appeal, though.

You know there had to be a lot. Davey hangs with the players–golfs with the pitchers, is out there giving instruction to the position players. You KNOW he hears stuff. If he acted on it, in this case– it had to be excessive.

DeRosa and Maldonado both at PNats tonight. Apparently (twitter machine) DeRosa is only going to do a few games. I just think the Nats players need to do more rehab starts than they do. Not one of them has been ready when they came back. We have guys who are holding the fort, take the time to be ready. Plus — high A pitching is not exactly the same as the majors.

Has this been discussed here? Look at that lineup. How many days in a row is Harper in CF? Is this the new look? What about when JW gets back? Do you guys like BH in CF? I'd thought that CF was not really his best spot — the CF is essentially captain of the outfield. But for some reason I thought he showed growth out there last night — passing up some overly aggressive throughs, for example. What do you guys think? Is this the look of the future: BH in CF?

Swami, I think with 14 teams in NL and 16 teams in AL, also having to play in DH parks and then non-DH parks, corresponding roster moves, and some teams facing off against all AL East teams and some not (like this season) is going to cause problems to lot of managers and their teams.

Faraz, don't forget next year that Astros go to AL West(sad for them)MLB Network just did a thing on it and they think it might get cut down a bit (less of the "Rivalry" series) so there is hope for that.

222, you can take all the free tickets you want from anyone – even Angelos himself – without feeling guilty. But as soon as you hand money to someone for a ticket, you're at least partly subsidizing him. And you may be completely subsidizing him. It's not unheard of for owners to put their unsold tickets directly on StubHub. And it's not illegal, either. Daniel Snyder was unmasked for doing that, as a way of maintaining the fiction that the Redskins have a long waiting list for season tickets when in fact there are lots of seats available. Putting them directly on StubHub allows him to sell them at less than face value, recoup something for them, and maintain the sellout so his telecasts aren't blacked out. If you don't believe me, read the archives of Dan Steinberg in the Post and Dave McKenna in the City Paper.Angelos is at least as evil as Snyder, wouldn't you say? Surely he knows that there are people like you who would not buy a ticket directly from him on principle, but would buy one from someone else. So enjoy the game while you bask in your illusion of non-guilt. You're not fooling anybody but yourself.

The thing with Giolito is that he absolutely does not need money. Some of these kids who are drafted just can't walk away from enough money to take care of their families. This kid is from a famous and wealthy family and grew up in Beverly Hills. Yes, the money that you are offered, especially with "certain" agents, represents "respect". Seems like he is going to be making the choice to enter the pros now or go to college. This is truly a choice for him much more than most of the other draftees. He is a big kid – do you think he still has growing to do? Seems pretty poised and mature, but grew up in the spotlight, too. My mom, who is elderly, is very excited for me because she always watched his parents on her soap so she thinks this is a big deal for their kid to join my team. We have had some very amusing conversations about it. Now that I think of it – I think I will call her during the rain delay…..

Another_Sam said…Has this been discussed here? Look at that lineup. How many days in a row is Harper in CF? Is this the new look? What about when JW gets back? Do you guys like BH in CF? I'd thought that CF was not really his best spot — the CF is essentially captain of the outfield. But for some reason I thought he showed growth out there last night — passing up some overly aggressive throughs, for example. What do you guys think? Is this the look of the future: BH in CF?June 22, 2012 5:55 PM——————–Sam, Harp has made it clear that he feels much more comfortable in center. In many ways RF is a more difficult position. I see the Kid as our long term CF.

Did you see those stats about Jordan's string of staying in games? Great play at first- gold glove candidate for sure. He looks tons better early than Gio did last night at this point. Once again, though , we are going to need runs.

Zimmerman is a huge joke. Davey needs to show some leadership and put him in the 8th spot. I am so sick of this. Werth last year. Zimmerman this year. $252 million for 2 underachieving #7 hitters. I think I would rather have Vinny Cerrato running this team.

The Nats make EVERY pitcher look like a Cry Young candidate. I miss the patient approach,wearing down opposing starters to get to the bullpen. Zimm looking on three pitches, LaRoche on one (outside), at least they got Morse on four.Their approach is just terrible now.It's like the opposing pitchers know exactly what our hitters will do, and we just can't make any adjustments.One thing we really seem unable to do is pick up the pitch. Does anyone else in MLB use the technique Eckstein does, where he pitches from like 45 feet to make the ball get there faster? I just wonder if that hurts the batter's ability to pick up rotation?

Soul – We're watching a first place pitching staff and a last place offense, and my TV has a remote, so technology is great. I sat in the RFK and Nats Park stands for a lot of losses from '05-'10. I don't need your endorsement to earn my fandom.

Sofa-If you think a team that hits this poorly is going to end up in 1st place with a chance to do anything in the playoffs…you are sorely mistaken. They HAVE to start hitting!!! They are the San Diego Padres with Strasburg and Gio.

Desond is one young vet who is putting out successful effort. Of the 6 K's his was the only where the batter looked strong, the other 5 the batter looked very weak.Now his baserunning gets us a run.Could everyone else please join the game?

The difference in approach is glaring. Especially with a hot pitcher it would be great to get him out of the game. We are easy outs, not tough outs. Desi with the hustle again, trying to make something happen.

Perfectionism is the enemy of Very Good. No, they don't have a great hitting team. They don't even have an average hitting team. Only neurotic, self-absorbed men have types. The rest of us take what we can get.I think Dashiell Hammett said that.

Sofa-If you think a team that hits this poorly is going to end up in 1st place with a chance to do anything in the playoffs…you are sorely mistaken. They HAVE to start hitting!!! They are the San Diego Padres with Strasburg and Gio.You're whiffing on the point, Figgie, like it's a Strasburg changeup. They play the games, and the team that wins the most at the end of the year is in first place. I watch to find out who that will be. No amount of prediction figures in the standings.

I mostly have, too, Steady Eddie. I'm just back on the Sofa for the evening, and in a good mood, so it doesn't bother me.It's been a long time since I burst into tears because some [homo sapiens] on the Internet called me a name.

I'm about ready to give up on game forums too. I am, admittedly, an angry watcher of games. It's why I've had to stop Tweeting or going on Facebook during them. But one of the reasons I look at comments during games is to feel a sense of shared frustrations. It's especially important having moved away from home (and into the town of an NL East rival). But instead, anything not remotely Kool-Aid flavored is labelled as trolling. Last time I checked, I hadn't advocated for Zimmerman to be cut or Strasburg traded for spare parts. People need to stop running for Mayor of Natstown in the forums.

I'm happy that we are in first place. However, other is a lot of improvement to be had in the hitting department.Rather than simply bash Eckstein tonight, I thought I would pose a question about whether a BP pitching technique of his, highlighted at one point in the season, could be causing a problem. I enjoy watching the games, but I would enjoy them more if we scored more runs.

Let's try that again, this time with attributions.Will, didn't see your "endorsement" comment at first. Sorry. No, of course you don't. You don't need everyone to agree with you, either, I hope. "And I don't understand how anyone can watch this offense and NOT get angry, but to each his own."More a failure of imagination, really. I might argue you're feeling a bit overly entitled, there, but as you say, that's yours to do. And no, you, particularly, calling me, personally, names, on this here particular occasion, was not what I was referring to. I apologise for any confusion.

33 hits in their last 56 innings. They simply cannot beat good teams that way unless that team is hurt or in a terrible slump. Our best vs. their best…they will lose because they can't hit. Looking at the stats the other day…only Padres and Pirates have a worse offense.

Grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference. Of course it's frustrating but a little sense of perspective helps. Probably a third of the games they've won this year have looked like this. And maybe half of their losses, but that's about 13 games in each category.

I do love the Nats and it has been a nice surprise to be in first – I pinch myself a lot. During the losing years it always seemed like being a first place team would be fun and carefree and that it would seem easy. This never seems easy and is a lot more stressful. I get mad at myself because I get so emotionally involved, but I guess that's why we love games – they make us forget about our everyday problems — someone the age of my sons doesn't hit a little white ball and I think it's the end of the world. But during the games I rarely worry about anything else. I am trying to dial back my angst. Somewhere along the line Jordan became my favorite player and so I pull for him every minute of the game – it's probably easier to have a position player be your favorite! I know people think being a die-hard fan is kind of silly. I don't feel like I choose it – it chooses me! Breathing now – this is supposed to be fun, darn it! Now – about some run support….

Yes, but… they don't have to play good teams who are healthy and hot, exclusively. When they do, you're right, they will lose a lot of those games. But they play 162 games, and most of them aren't against good, hot, healthy teams. They are a good team, because they have great pitching. The hitting isn't good. That's who they are. The fun part is watching them win in spite of that, for some of us. Evidently, that's not fun for you. Saul Good.

Or to put it another way, my own failure of imagination is to not understand how people can get so worked up over a baseball game. It's just a game. No one dies. No one goes hungry. No one gets shot if they mess up. It's a game. How upset do you get when Jay Leno messes up the punchline of a joke?

the three guys who the ball in the 7th did fine, the two who didn't looked very poor. Dlores almost came through just needed to be a couple inches higher. Hitters till just aren't carrying their weight.

Here is the problem it seems our starters are excellent, and the opponents starters when they go against us are excellent. When is the last time we just knocked on out of the box? We play against Cy Young way too many times. We provide our Cy Young some of the time.

Some days peanuts, some days shells. Jordan with 14 straight statrs where he goes 6 innings or more. Up there with Livo even though he is only 26. Also up there with the unluckiest pitchers ever. Is this guy their number one pitcher? Even though our hitters look bad, he is a pretty good pitcher, and not just tonight against us. And when we finally get something going the Orioles decide to play good defense.

Our hitters are so poor our pitchers cannot afford any mistakes. Jzimermann made 2 mistakes a hanging slider to Reynolds, and a 2 out 1-2 pitch that hits Johnson who 2 hits later scores. the 2 hits not that bad a pitch. But pitchers have to have a little wiggle room and our hitters simply refuse to give them any.

Last night Gio got off to a terrible start, settled down and we got some clutch hitting. Tonight JZim battles once again, the offense showed a tiny spark and the Orioles suddenly decide they can play defense.

SCNats Fan – are you kidding me????? Our pitcher battles 7, walks one, is pitch efficient and gives up two runs and you are blaming him for the loss? His era will probably go down. Any pitcher on any team in the major leagues would be happy if they only gave up 2 runs per start. That's just nutty. We couldn't even score a second run to tie it up. This guy can't catch a break with his offense or his so-called fans.

It is not our starters that are the probme. The way our pitching is we will be in most games.We way our hitting is we will win ssome and lose some.I just can't figure out the what the hitting strategy is. Seems to change every game. I don;t mind swing at the first pitch if it is a fast ball over the middle. What gets me more is taking the fast ball over the middle, then swinging at one in the dirt and being down 0-2. that happens way too often. Why let the fast ball go and swing at the crap. that is what makes no sense. That is in fact what they do a lot. that is what I blame on Eck (though people say I am wrong). When too many do the same thing there is a philosphical problem among the group, and the leader needs to step up and fix it.

If I were Davey–it's too late now–I would give serious consideration to ignoring the DH and letting JZ hit. Wouldn't do it for Stras or EJax, but I would for JZ. Just play the NL game. Gotta be a really helpless feeling for JZ when he can't help himself on the offensive side.

This is first time harper has gone 0 for 2 straight games, and people are on him already. Zim I can see being on he is 5 or 50 or the last 12 games. Our gitters always seem to make the opposing starters look like Cy Young. No game plan eveident.

I know most of you think that the hitting coach does nothing. I ahve come to that conclussion to as nothing changes, and they all have a different approach. I know Jake Long meets with his hitters in New York, and they have a strategy (works sometimes and doesn't others). We have no strategy, as we have no one in charge of the hitters. (Eck is just an adviser I have been told).

They're not going to hit. That was always the assumption people? And everyone gave JayB such a hard time for saying as much AND he was right.It is unexpected to have both Zim and Morse trying to ramp up at this stage due to injuries both suffered pretty early on.And it only gets worst if Johnson decides to bring in DeRosa's bat over Marerro's. LIke CMW and Lidge another HUGE mistake for a guy who claimed he could help this team hit better. C'mon Davey WTF are you thinking? DeRosa is now terrible in the field as well as at the plate!!! You must like looking disaster right in the face?In any case the take on this team from the beginning was good starting pitching, lights out bullpen, good to stellar defense, and a sputtering offense. And that won't change until the young hitters learn to hit and more of them arrive on the scene to compliment those that are already here.

Folks, I'm pissed they lost to Angelos' team, but they were just plain unlcky tonight. And firing Eck won't help the hitting – only changes in personnel will – Werth is coming back in august, so we can platoon Lombo/Espi at 2B – that will help a lot — also think Tyler Moore gets more time. But this team will go only as far as the pitching takes them – it's like 2005, but the pitching is better than then, hitting about the same. Patience – I'd trade the sweep of Boston for a sweep of the O's, but baseball just doesn't work that way…sigh.

If I were Davey–it's too late now–I would give serious consideration to ignoring the DH and letting JZ hit. Not his job. Davey should be putting Tyler Moore in the lineup. Every single game in an AL ballpark. THAT IS THE glaring mistake.

peric sez: "And it only gets worst if Johnson decides to bring in DeRosa's bat over Marerro's."OMG, we're in much worse shape than I ever thought if we're counting on Chris Marerro to pull us out of this.Chris Marerro is at best No. 4 on my first base depth chart:ALRMooreMorseThe no-hit, no-field MarerroI'm not saying DeRosa is the answer. But Chris Marerro is not even a question.

YAY!!! Our Nats are still in first place by 2.5 games over the mutts and 3.5 games over the atl. Will they still be in 1st place at the end of this series?10K's, 5 hits and 1 run as a gift from the o's. Just how pathetic is that? They hit almost every ball straight at a player, or whiffed on the same pitch every bat. But I still LUVEM! GYFNG!!!

that was a very disappointing game to be at. I think Nats have lost all the games I have attended, except one. is the universe giving me a signal?I think we were very ordinary on the mound and at the plate. JZ may have given up only two runs but he never seemed in control of a single at bat. His two strikeouts, 10 base runners, and solid contact on outs will say the same thing. Hitters got a little unlucky towards the end but they should have taken some advantage of those two errors by Reynolds. Of course they did not.

Reality is yes, the Nats will be in first place for another day….and more. But, reality is with a team that strikes out 10 times a game, has five starters batting less than .235, and the DH batting .211, they won't be in any playoff this year! Is Matt Stairs the batting coach??? Carpenter say sooo often, what a great day a pitcher is having against us. Really?!! I wonder why that is?! Every pitcher looks like Cy Young pitching against the Nats. Reality, by the end of July we will no longer be in first place. Hi MicheleS.

Game of inches. Two inches higher of Zim's line drive over the glove of JJ Hardy and we're celebrating instead of licking our wounds. That's baseball. We can't and we won't win every game.I would like to see a lot more patience in our "patiently aggressive" batting strategy. 4-pitch innings is something that's allowing the pitchers we face to have good outings.Go EJax! GYFNG!

Didn't watch much of the game what with the "rain" delayed late start (yawn), my husband's wanting to watch something else (I can has the clicker?), and the joint broadcast (ick). Won't see tonight's game as we'll be at the P-Nats (Rollie Fingers appearance – yay), but I did set the DVR for the broadcast. Is it a bad thing when you're glad that the game is on Fox instead of MASN?Anyhoo, was looking at some P-Nats news and found this piece on Mark DeRosa. Again, my sympathies on his loss.

Don't know if I will go up to B'mo tonight, but if I do it will be ticketless. Can anyone point me to where the scalpers are, and are they honest?(I have never had a problem with the 1/2 Street guys, buying or selling.)

J Zim did his job and how any one can criticize him is stunning!! I was looking back to the 100 loss season batting averages… this team individually has the WORST averages in the 8 seasons in DC! that is scary. I'm sorrry, I am done with R Zim, he is hurting his club and last night was atrocious!

mick said… Every player in this lineup,owes JZim and apology for their lack of effort at the plate, swinging at the first pitch, etc… RZim needs to sit, move Lombo to third, anything, get him out of the lineup. June 23, 2012 9:28 AM ____________________________Kevin Youkilis was just benched in Boston in favor of the Rookie Middlebrooks. I don't think Zim needs to be benched, just moved down in the order BUT it won't happen. Davey won't move him.Zim will get hits if he puts them in play as he has had some grounders find holes. Where are the smashed line drives to the outfield?

phil dunton said… Harper slumping big time. June 22, 2012 10:12 PM ______________________________You know the old saying that hitting is contagious? As some one said yesterday "ineptitude" is becoming contagious. I was at the game and couldn't tell what was what from my vantage point. It looked like with Zim hitting behind him that he was being thrown pitches to chase.

Someone asked why does every pitcher look like Cy Young candidate against the Nats. It's because they are!No offense is going to get much against the Nats pitching (best in MLB) and D (arguably best in NL, maybe in MLB). In other words, the Nats are not going to give games away, they can shut down the most potent offenses.So, every opposing pitcher knows he can't give up runs. Period. His offense won't get them back.Remember how we said that lack of hitting puts pressure on our pitchers? Well, look at it from the opponents' point of view. Our pitching/defense puts pressure on their pitchers, and every one of them comes in determined to be on the top of his game. It gets tougher, not easier, when you are at the top of the heap, especially with good clubs who have good pitchers. You can bet they study heat maps, especially on Harper, RZ, Morse and ALR. Those guys all have weaknesses and good pitchers will go right after them.Bottom line is, our great pitching is forcing other teams to up their pitching.

Mick.. The second Hammels (o's pitcher) left Coors Field all his breaking balls got better. He is a good pitcher, now granted that does NOT excuse the lack of production from our offense. But he is a good pitcher.Gonat, not sure if you follow Kilgore on twitter after one of Zim's at bats, he tweeted that it has to be the shoulder. Last night Zim was again taking the blame for his piss poor offense – so you know he is frustrated (I still think he is hurt). the fact that Davey said he was considering dropping him in the order but hasn't tells you that has been a topic of discussion and davey is trying to show confidence in Zim. If it doesn't start to turn around, I think Davey will relent and move him down.Now onto a new game and a better day for our Nats.Also, Ian's comments about how it will all work out show's true leadership. I really think Ian is blossoming under Davey.

Yes, Zim is due a 3 hit game with some HRs. I support Zim. I want him to do well. I know some are ready to pounce once Zim has a good game with "I told you so". Problem is everyday he does nothing in the 3 hole is costing this team. His last 2 hit game was 2 weeks ago. His last XBH was 2 weeks ago.

gonat.. I won't say "I Told You so" but I will jump for joy when Zim starts hitting. I expect the "I Told you so" will happen if he gets moved down in the order or is put on the DL. So let's hope he starts hitting.

NatsLady said… Don't know if I will go up to B'mo tonight, but if I do it will be ticketless. Can anyone point me to where the scalpers are, and are they honest?In Baltimore they have a legal and sanctioned scalping area near one of the stadium gates. Buy from there. Any other scalpers you encounter will be quite shady. Buying from one of them might result in an arrest – of the scalper for sure, and maybe of the buyer too. Why chance it?

Mick. Jzim gets lots of positive attention from outside of dc. Last night he could have put a zero up there and someone would have dissed him for giving up a hit. By the way, I don't see SS or Gio pitching as many innings or putting up ones or zeroes. They seem to get a pass — and just enough offense for a W. I hope the second half equalizes for him. It's the offense, people.